The High Court has rejected an application by Det Sgt John White to hear in private evidence relating to his mental health which the detective had proposed to call to support his claim to be too unwell to give evidence to the Morris tribunal.
Det Sgt White wanted to call that evidence as part of his forthcoming legal challenge to the decision of the Morris tribunal to hear in public evidence relating to his medical health. He is also seeking to quash the order of tribunal chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris directing him to attend the tribunal to give evidence.
In a preliminary application yesterday, Patrick J McCarthy SC, for the detective garda, asked the President of the High Court to direct that evidence in his judicial review challenge relating to his mental health be heard in private.
Rejecting the application, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan said he had to balance the constitutional imperative to administer justice in public against the right to privacy and confidentiality and de- cide which was more important. The more important obligation was to administer justice in public. Everything that takes place in court must be subject to scrutiny. In balancing the rights to privacy and confidentiality, the obligation to administer justice in public could be suffocated. If the case proceeded, everything in court would be in public.
Mr McCarthy asked for time to consult with his client. Counsel said later that he would not be ad- ducing medical evidence in the legal challenge, fixed for hearing at the end of next month.
Det Sgt White (50) was acquitted last July at Letterkenny Circuit Court of planting a sawn- off shotgun at a Travellers' encampment in North Donegal eight years ago.
The High Court challenge is being brought on the grounds that Mr Justice Morris had refused to hear evidence in private from Det Sgt White's consultant psychiatrist, Dr Lewis O'Carroll, or to have any regard for his opinion that Det Sgt White was unfit to attend the tribunal.